ZCZC
BFF-32
MOZAMBIQUE-CLIMATE-CYCLONE-AID
One year on, Mozambique still reels from Cyclone Idai
MAPUTO, March 10, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Tens of thousands of victims of last
year’s Cyclone Idai which pummelled southern Africa, especially Mozambique,
still live in makeshift shelters and face continued threats of displacement
due to climate change, aid agencies said Tuesday.
Cyclone Idai – the strongest storm on record to hit southern Africa –
struck in March last year sweeping away homes, roads and bridges, leaving
around 700 people dead and displaced 1.5 million others.
“One year after Cyclone Idai left a trail of destruction across parts of
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, nearly 100,000 people continue to live in
makeshift shelters and are alarmingly vulnerable to future climate shocks,”
three agencies said.
The joint statement came from Save the Children, Care International and
Oxfam.
Despite a massive global effort to mobilise funding for the victims
displaced, less than half of the hundreds of millions of dollars required was
raised.
The shortfall has left aid agencies and the devastated families battling
to cope.
“As the climate crisis worsens, governments and aid agencies are
struggling to get the right resources to implement speedy and adequate
recovery and reconstruction efforts,” said Rotafina Donco, Oxfam’s Country
Director in Mozambique.
A little over a month after Cyclone Idai struck, northern Mozambique was
hit by another devastating storm, Cyclone Kenneth.
Piling on to the misery, heavy rains lashed central Mozambique’s Sofala
province in December, damaging around 3,676 resettlement shelters and
completely destroying another 500.
Efforts to replant the 700,000 hectares of lost crops have also been
thwarted by flooding.
The ongoing displacement has also created additional risks of children
being vulnerable to exploitation, separated from their families, and dropping
out of school.
Last year storms in Mozambique inflicted an estimated $3 billion in
damages — roughly 20 percent of the country’s GDP.
The International Monetary Fund provided Mozambique with an emergency load
of $118 million — no where near to what the country needs.
BSS/AFP/SSS/2015 hrs